Ozonolysis or ozone-based oxidation of reagents currently in use in the chemical industry generally rely on processing large amounts of material in either tray-type continuous ozonation systems or in batch systems, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 2,813,113. The use of either type of established method, however, results in the accumulation of peroxide intermediates that can be unstable and present a significant explosion risk. Alternatively, processing small amounts of material in a continuous fashion can significantly reduce these risks. Solutions to address this important safety issue include the use of microstructured falling film reactors such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,825,277 B2, and available from ThalesNano, Inc. These technologies, however, have not been adapted for use in large-scale (multi-ton) manufacturing processes, owing to challenges with throughput and the operation costs associated with maintaining large numbers of reaction vessel channels and precisely calibrated instruments.
Other commercial reaction technologies use sparging or aeration techniques to drive interactions between liquid and gaseous reagents, which can introduce local hot spots and requires that the gaseous reagent be present at high pressures. The disclosure described herein addresses the need for a method of industrial-scale ozonolysis that is safer and more efficient than conventional methods.